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China is a big part of Apple's retail future, and its presence is about to expand a bit more. Apple will open a retail store in Tianjin, China on Feb. 7. Apple recently noted its plan to open five new retail stores in five weeks to coincide with the Chinese New Year. The Tianjin store is number four.

Apple has posted a video on its China retail page highlighting the collaboration that resulted in the mural that currently covers the forthcoming Chongqing store. Navid Baraty and artist Yangyang Pan worked on the mural, which is just stunning. In the video, they each discuss their contributions.

Last week, Apple released a video highlighting the calligraphy project meant to promote the upcoming Hangzhou retail store. The company's retail chief Angela Ahrendts has stated that Apple will open five new Chinese retail stores to coincide with the Chinese New Year holiday.

The Beijing News is reporting today that Apple's Tim Cook has agreed to security inspections of his company's products by Chinese government officials. According to MacRumors, the inspections will concentrate on identifying back doors that would allow third-party access to stored data.

China is an important market for Apple, and this agreement was likely put in place when Tim Cook and the director of China's State Internet Information Office, Lu Wei, met in 2014.

Years ago, I worked for a residential school. Since the students lived there, employees worked in several shifts: 7:00 AM - 3:00 PM, 3:00 PM to 11:00 PM and an overnight shift that started at 11:00 PM and ended at 7:00 the next morning. There was also a "split" shift that started at 11:00 AM and ended at 7:00 PM.

I typically worked 7-3, but would pick up overtime in any and all of the other slots. So, my schedule got crazy. If only I had Stewie's time machine, I would have used it to travel to 2015 and grab Shifts by Snowman (and an iPhone to run it... but let's not get technical). Shifts, which is currently on sale for US$1.99, lets you track your work hours and earnings. Let's take a look.

Shift types

Begin by creating shift types. While testing the app I pretended it was 1994 (Stewie's time machine again) and entered my old work shifts. Creating a shift type is easy. Tap the "+" at the bottom of the screen to enter the edit screen, and then tap the "+" again.

Next, give your shift a name ("AM Shift" for example) as well as a start and stop time. By default, Shifts assumes you're going to work eight hours, and fills the "end" field with a time eight hours after what you enter as the starting time. Next, choose your hourly rate for that shift as well as an icon and a color to represent that type on the calendar.

I like the icon/color options a lot. There are 10 icons to choose from, three of which are a sun rising, a sun high in the sky and a sun setting. Perfect for my AM/PM/overnight shifts. There are also 40 colors to choose from, so employ whatever scheme you want there ("Job A" vs. "Job B"; overtime vs. straight time, etc.).

Adding shifts to your calendar

This is easy, too. Tap the "+" at the bottom of a screen to reveal the list of shift types you've created. Tap the one you'd like to use, and then tap every day that you'll work that type of shift. For example, let say I work The AM shift -- 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM -- Monday - Friday. To note that on my calendar, I tap the bottom "+", select AM Shift and then tap each weekday. The AM shift icon appears with each tap. Likewise, if I've picked up two PM shifts as overtime on Wednesday and Thursday, I switch to the PM shift type and then tap Wednesday and Thursday. By the way, that's called "pulling a double" and it's no fun.

You might be thinking, why did you work so many doubles, Dave? Because of the money, honey. Shifts has that covered, too. When you create a shift type, you can note the associated hourly rate. Then, enable earnings calculations in settings, and Shifts will list your potential monthly income at the top of the screen. Cool!

Other preferences let you receive alerts around your work schedule, like 15 minutes, an hour or even 24 hours before your shift begins. The app also handles rotations beautifully, if you work a job with rotating schedules. Shifts integrates with your existing calendars, pulling in dates so you can catch any work/life conflicts that may arise. Finally, there's an ample share sheet, so you can keep others abreast of your schedule.

I absolutely recommend Shifts to shift workers. It's certainly a lot better than the piece of paper I kept pinned to a bulletin board in 1994. And, on sale! Grab it now, shift workers.

Music streaming service Spotify has updated its iOS app with a cool new feature that helps you find what you're looking for. It's called Touch Preview and works by briefly playing a portion of a song while you tap-and-hold on its icon. Even if you're already playing another song, that track will pause while you hold and listen, and then resume as you release. Neat, eh?

New gestures make it even better. If you like the track you've previewed, swipe right to add it to your collection or swipe left to queue it up for playback.

Earlier this week, Apple iBooks chief Keith Moerer announced that the company has been gaining about one million iBookstore users per week since the release of OS X Yosemite. The announcement came at the Digital Book World Conference in New York City.

The iBookstore comes pre-installed on Yosemite, which likely help customers find it. I'd also suggest that, as Moerer mentioned, the large-screen iPhone 6 and 6 plus make for a more pleasant reading experience.

Last year I wrote a review of Windy, a gorgeous, relaxing app by Taptanium that follows the eponymous character's journey across several lovely settings, complete with stunning visuals and relaxing, stereoscopic sound. Today the same team has released Sunny (free with in-app purchases), a follow-up app that accompanies a new character through a beautiful, parallax-heavy world of calming surf and beautiful bays.

The story is broken up into several chapters, each telling a part of Sunny's journey. After weeks at sea, he steps foot onto a mythic land and is compelled by his pet water dragon to journey on.

Much like its predecessor Windy, the visuals in Sunny are just terrific. Each parallax-heavy scene (you can adjust exactly how pronounced this effect is) offers much to observe. A single tap hides the on-screen controls, subtle as they are, so you can explore the new "bay" (there are six in total) without distraction. There's even a "secret" bay you can easily unlock, which features a cute red panda. Of course, that made me think of @Darth.

Here's what those controls offer. In the upper left there's a timer. Tap it to have the audio end after a prescribed amount of time. Tap the leaf icon in the upper right to read the story that accompanies each scene. It's a single narrative arc that adds a bit of fun to the experience. Not only fun, but "sunrays," which I'll explain later this post.

Additional settings let you adjust the audio by increasing or decreasing: 1. Music 2. The patter of rain on a tent 3. The patter of rain on the ground 4. Birdsong

Finally, the chapter selector lets you move from chapter to chapter and scene to scene. As long as you've collected enough sunrays, that is.

Sunrays are points that you earn to unlock additional chapters, and there are two ways to acquire them. First, simply use the app. When you launch Sunny for the first time, you'll earn sunrays for exploring the options I described above. You can earn more by using the app for three minutes per day. If you're in a hurry you can pay $0.99 to unlock the app entirely.

Finally, I've got to mention the sound. Since Sunny was made by the folks behind Thunderspace and Windy (both of which were also updated today), you know it's good. Pop on some headphones and enjoy the effective "3D" sound. Waves seem to crash from left to right, raindrops seem to land above your head and wind swirls in various directions. It's impressive and immersive.

I've taken to listening to Sunny while I'm at my desk and it's quite nice. I love my office and all, but I'd much rather be in an idyllic nature setting. Sunny lets me imagine that's where I am.

There's a window display in London's Regent Street Apple Store that's pretty clever. It features a row of iPads, standing up, with Smart Covers that seem to open and close all on their own. Meanwhile, the iPads are running a demo video.

It's certainly eye-catching, as you can see it the video below. How does it work? We're going out on a limb to guess that magnets are somehow involved.

Steve took the stage to introduce a product that would change personal technology significantly. I still get chills when Steve does the "These are not three separate devices" bit.

Today we know that the iPhones Steve used on stage weren't fully functional, and the threat of his demo going catastrophically wrong was very real. As The New York Times reported in 2013, engineers found a specific progression of tasks that would work, if they were executed in a precise order on stage:

"The iPhone could play a section of a song or a video, but it couldn't play an entire clip reliably without crashing. It worked fine if you sent an e-mail and then surfed the Web. If you did those things in reverse, however, it might not. Hours of trial and error had helped the iPhone team develop what engineers called 'the golden path,' a specific set of tasks, performed in a specific way and order, that made the phone look as if it worked."

The fact that Steve's fifteen-minute demo went as well as it did is practically a technology miracle. You can watch the historic presentation below.

Task management app Finish (our full review here) has been updated to version 3.0, which removes all in-app purchases. Now Finish is completely free for all users, so everyone can schedule more than ten tasks, enable the "bother me" notifications and enjoy the other features that have previously been held behind a paywall.

This update also fixes several issues that existed in previous versions, and offers improved iOS 8 support.

Well here's something that's...unique. The Puzlook iPhone case contains five lenses to your iPhone to enhance your photography, including wide-angle, macro, telephoto, and fisheye lenses. There's also a tripod mount an integrated 8 GB USB memory stick. What's weird is that the lenses are configured like a sliding tile puzzle. To use the one you're after, you must "solve" it into place.

I realize it's just a five-piece puzzle on a six-slot board, so it isn't exactly difficult. But I suspect the novelty would wear off very quickly. But what do I know?

The Puzlook is available for the iPhone 5 and 5s only, with a price tag of US$99.

Look at that, another 12 months are now behind us. We see a lot of apps here at TUAW, and I've narrowed things down to my favorites. Here are the apps I grew to love in 2014.

Todoist (Free with a pro option for $29/year). Earlier this year, Jordan Cooper gave me a hard time for switching to-do apps so often. This year I've landed on Todoist, and I'm here to stay. It works on nearly any platform you throw at it, syncs data at lightning speed and is very pretty to boot. Plus, its gimmicky "karma points," which reward you for being a productive person, totally work as a motivator. I'm embarrassed to admit how giddy I get when they increase.

My Fitness Pal (Free). Earlier this year my doctor suggested that there ought to be less of me in the world. In other words, lose some weight, tubby! I figured that a gadget-y tool would keep me motivated, and I was right. I used a FitBit and My Fitness Pal (MFP) for the latter half of 2014 and it's been great. MFP grabs data from FitBit and uses it in concert with data light my height, age and weight to pick a daily calorie target for me. Recording what I eat throughout the day is easy with barcode support. It's fun to use and I'm down ten pounds. Thanks MFP and FitBit!

Sleepy Fan (US$1.99). When I was young, I became addicted to falling asleep to the soothing white noise of a bedroom fan. Today I still like to hear the gentle wussshhhh as I drift off. I've used Ambiance for a long time, but this year I discovered Sleepy Fan. It's got no huge library of sounds to choose from. Instead, it offers three types of fans and minimal options for customizing the sound they produce. There's a timer and a simple tap-on, tap-off mechanism. I'm getting sleepy just writing about it.

Note: some Sleepy Fan users have commented that the "loop point" in the app's audio is obvious and distracting. That has not been my experience, and believe me, I'm very aware of such things.

Haunting Melissa 2: Dark Hearts (Free with in-app purchases). The sequel to the iOS-only, episodic horror film Haunting Melissa is more surreal than its predecessor and the production value is even better. The first few chapters, released on a rapid but unpredictable schedule (enable push notifications for occasional, startling prompts to watch), are confounding in a good way: what the heck is going on? Once the story gets moving, its even more satisfying. A must for horror fans.

Kingdom Rush: Origins ($2.99). I love tower defense games and KR: Origins is by far my favorite implementation of the genre on the App Store. It combines challenging play, great looks and tons of Easter Eggs (fans of Disney's Fantasia will want to keep their eyes open) into a game with great replayability. Also, you get to control a dragon! KR: Origins is a stellar addition to a stellar franchise.

Picturelife (Free with in-app purchases). My struggle with digital photo management is legendary. I have a camera with me at all times, and it's so easy to use, that snapping 200 photos in a day is as easy as ABC. The problem is in storing and sorting the resulting mountain of images. I still don't have a perfect solution, but Picturelife comes close. It automatically backs up all of my snaps so I know they're safe. It sorts them by time so finding what I want is relatively easy. Plus, its "Memories" feature is a very fun way to remember past events.

Anyone who knows me understands that I live with an all-consuming travel lust. There's nothing I like more than going out to see what else is in the world. It's a prohibitively expensive fascination, so I'm often forced to accept compromises. RoundMe for iPhone (free) is so lovely in its execution and delivery, I'm glad to use it to explore this fine planet of ours.

RoundMe is a network of user-submitted, panoramic photos, which the service calls "Spaces." As version 1.0 launches today, there's a whole host of gorgeous photos available to explore, all submitted by professional photographers. Upon launching the app, I used its map to navigate to Italy, so I could "revisit" some of the places I saw during my honeymoon, like Rome's Piazza Navona.

When you visit a space, you can move your phone in all directions to explore the full panoramic photo. Not all will let you turn a full 360 degrees, but those that do are very impressive. It's a whole lot of fun and I spent a lot of time poking around and exploring both mundane and spectacular sights, from grand cathedrals to modest apartments.

It's a whole lot of fun and has some business applications, too. Looking to show off a rental property? Here's a stellar way to do that.

Round.me is free and available in the App Store now. I recommend it for exploring the world -- or showing off your own corner -- from the comfort of home.

I let Apple's iCloud manage my contact information, but I understand that not everyone does. If you live on the Google side of contact management, check out FullContact. It's a service that keeps all relevant information in sync between devices, while pulling info in from external sources like LinkedIn and social tools. Here's a look at FullContact.

Social media sites and services like LinkedIn encourage people to have multiple online profiles. FullContact lets you pull all of that information into a single contact record, which is very convenient. It also keeps itself updated, so as your connections edit their Instagram account, for example, that change will be reflected in FullContact.

I installed FullContact's Chrome plugin and gave it a test via Gmail. I have to say, it's very thorough. Once installed (and after you've signed in via Google+), just click on any email. The app recognizes the people whose addresses are included and, with your go-ahead, it combs LinkedIn, Facebook (again, with your permission), Twitter and more to pull in relevant information. You can also tag each contact for grouping and speedy search later on.

For some reason, I had two entries for Victor in my Gmail address book. FullContact recognized this duplicate and offered to fix it by merging the two into one accurate record. It also fixed my malformed phone number by formatting it correctly. FullContact will also correct any misTypEd nameS you have have recorded in haste.

Checkmark 2.5 introduces a new Today widget that lets you review your tasks and reminders in the iOS Notification Center. It's amazing how Apple has made this screen so useful with third-party widgets. Additionally, Checkmark 2.5 offers "Interactive Notifications," which I like a lot. If a notification appears while you're using another app, and it's one you've already completed, you can mark it as done right then and there. And nothing feels quite like checking off completed tasks, am I right? I am.

Finally, this update is completely ready for your iPhone 6 and its gargantuan sibling, and iCloud reliability has been improved.

As Carl Sagan once said, "There are billions and billions of travel apps in the App Store." I'm paraphrasing, but you get the sentiment. Giants like Kayak (which I love) and Travelocity are quite visible while others get less attention. Today I want to point out Roomlia (free) as it's got some very clever features that work quite well. Here's my look at Roomlia for iPhone.

Looks

Roomlia is a very minimalist, "flat" app. That's mostly a good thing. The hotel review screen is very pretty and legible, with white text on a field of black, which also offsets the colorful photos. The hotel detail screen is text-heavy, but I guess there's no way around that. Other screens like Account Settings and "Other Things" are kind of dull. But that's fine, as Roomlia is more about function than form. Most people don't spend an inordinate amount of time gazing at travel booking apps, so that's fine. Speaking of function, how does Roomlia work?

Use

For the time being, travel options are limited to several major US cities plus San Juan, Puerto Rico. To get started, tap a city that you'd like to visit. In the examples below, I've chosen Orlando, Florida because I'm one of those Disney people.

The app grabs some rates and creates a nice list. Each listing presents a photo, the hotel name, star rating and initial offering. To view the amenities, swipe left on any image. You'll see details like on-site restaurant, pool, free wi-fi and so on. Tap any listing for more details.

The detail screen is just that: detailed. You'll find a series of photos as well as the street address and all sorts of details. Buttons at the bottom of the screen let you select arrival and departure dates easily, and a convenient slider lets you adjust how long you'll be at the hotel. Booking is as simple as tapping Book Now.

I promised you some cool features, and this is the first. When you view an attractive listing and then hit the back button, the app is smart enough to recognize what you were looking at and suggest a compatible alternative with a fantastic rate. For example, I was browsing three-star hotels in Orlando. After viewing one option, I hit Back and was presented with an exclusive offer for a similar hotel in a similar area. The deal was quite good indeed, and exclusive to Roomlia. As someone who as spent a lot of time hitting the back button over and over in booking apps, I was impressed with this clever implementation.

Here's the other feature I liked. Roomlia is so confident in the exclusive rates it has on offer, if you find a better one they'll pay for it. Finally, Roomlia operates on an agency model. That is to say, when you pay and book, you're dealing with the hotel, not Roomlia. Therefore, if there is an issue at the hotel when you arrive, you can deal with them, and not have to worry about getting in touch with a representative at Roomlia.

Holiday time is travel time, and Roomlia is worth your attention. Give it a try, and happy traveling.

Last year Hooked Digital Media released Haunting Melissa, a serialized horror movie that was exclusive to iOS. Earlier this week the group released the sequel, Dark Hearts, which picks up where its predecessor left off. There's more creepy goodness here, released one chapter at a time.

There are a few fun things about the "Melissa" movies, as I've begun to call them. First, each chapter is released on an unpredictable schedule. Enable notifications for a creepy alert when your next chapter is ready. You'll often hear an eerie whisper or sound effect. It's scared the daylights out of my kids a few times.

The other compelling aspect is that subtle aspects change upon multiple viewings. For instance, the second time you watch a given chapter, there might be a ghostly woman standing where the wasn't one the first time you watched it. Hooked calls this technology Dynamic Story Elements, and in fact they invented it. That was a lot of fun with Haunting Melissa, and I look forward to playing with it again in Dark Hearts.

All that is well and good, but how's the movie? I've only see the intro blurb and the first chapter, but it feels like the production level has ramped way up. Not that it was ever bad, but you know you're watching a real movie on your device. Dark Hearts is directed by Neal Edelstein, who also produced The Ring among others, which is one of my favorite movies ("Seven days...").

Other niceties include built-in discussion boards and a super easy way to take screenshots for sharing. There are other creepy surprises throughout. I don't want to spoil those, but I will say when you're in the chapter view above, just let it sit for minute or two.

Note that you can get the first chapter for free, but subsequent chapters will cost you. A season pass costs US$5.99.

I've been a horror fan for many years, and this series is one that I enjoy. Turn down the lights, grab some headphones and figure out what's going on in Melissa's super creepy house.

Kingdom Rush Origins is one of those beautiful games that makes you say, "Oh wow." It's got a fantasy them with a cartoonish feel that immediately engaging and fun. In fact, a sense of fun permeates the whole experience, from the tiniest hero ("You have my sword!") to the sound effects and music. But at its heart, Kingdom Rush Origins is a fun tower defense game.

Game play

This edition is a prequel to the original Kingdom Rush, if you like a little flavor with your game play. Long before Vez'nan sought to unleash the gem of power, these brave souls fought ogres, worgs and more across the kingdom. Now you can command soldiers, archers, mystics (new) and stone druids (new). In all, there are eight new tower updates with 18 new abilities.

You must carefully place the various types of towers along a route that the enemy will take as they march towards the goal. Upgrade towers as you play and unlock special abilities to defeat wave after wave of bad guys. The story gets more epic as you play with tougher enemies and the dawn of the dreaded Twilight Army.

In between battles you can use gems and in-game currency (or real currency, if that's OK with you) to buy upgrades and unlock new heroes, each of whom brings a unique skill to the melee.

Look, Kingdom Rush is a wildly successful franchise and Origins embodies the "why." Great looks, super fun game play, enjoyable music and fun Easter Eggs (see above). Anyone who loves tower defense games ought to have this on their device.

Stringer for iPhone (free with in-app purchase) is an interesting way to shuffle music music on your iPhone. The app solves what was a problem for me, namely the desire to easily update a custom playlist on the fly. Its UI is quite unique in that it "strings" your music together. Adding music is easy and fun, though the app really is just for people who like to shuffle their music. Here's our look at Stringer.

Looks

Stringer focuses so closely on the visuals that this aspect deserves a good look. The idea here is that all of your songs are "strung" together, so a long "string" is the app's main feature, and it bisects the screen. The songs in your playlist are "attached" to the string, and the background takes on the colors of the current track. When you swipe left or right to access additional functions -- more on that later in this post -- the string "jiggles" into place as you move it.

I'll tell you right now, skeuomorphism opponents will experience debilitating heart palpitations over this app. It's all about albums on a taut, bouncy string that you flick around with your finger. Take deep breaths, people.

That's not to say there aren't any flat elements. Other than the stringed album art, everything else is flat enough to slip through a mail slot. So Stringer's looks will either leave everyone happy ("Best of both worlds!") or no one ("Why did they include that aspect?!"). I'm guessing a combination thereof is the most likely.

Use

Like I said in the intro, Stringer wants to solve a problem, and it does. Here's the scenario.

You've set your iPhone to shuffle your Music library. As you're listening, you think, "Ooh, I'd love to hear that other track on this album, too." Apple's Music app lets you "flip over" the current album and select those songs. But doing so pulls you out of shuffle mode. D'oh! What if you wanted to add those to tracks to the current playlist? That's Stringer's bread and butter.

While you're "listening to a shuffle" as Stringer's developers call it, simply swipe to the left. The current album's tracks appear along side the string. To add one or more, simply tap and drag it onto the string, thereby modifying the shuffled list on the fly. Neat, huh?

You aren't limited to adding songs from the current album, either. After swiping left, swipe down to jump to add music from previously played albums. Note that you can't jump ahead in this way.

There are a few other options here. To play/pause a track simply tap its album art. Press-and-hold a song to either mark it as a favorite or to tell Stringer to ignore it in the future. Additionally, the app's settings let you enable shake-to-shuffle, play music stored in iTunes Match and prevent screen lock. For the rest, you'll need to upgrade to premium.

See related music. Swipe right to see all the other albums you've got from the current artist

Import iTunes playlists

Save custom strings for future playback

Create strings quickly based on your favorite tracks

Conclusion

Stringer works great out of the box, and will be fun for people who like to hit "shuffle" and just let the thing run. It gets a lot more useful once you upgrade to premium. The ability to save strings is really nice and you're going to want that.

That said, it's not for everyone. For every shuffle addict, I imagine there's someone who wants to hear Escape in its entirety every day. If you're among the former, give Stringer a try. The basic app is free, so why not?

What is it with Apple fans and coffee? Perhaps it's the fact that you can totally "geek out" on the process, the beans, the hardware and so on. Add your iPhone to the mix and you've got Apple-loving Coffee Nerd Nirvana.

BRUVELO is a coffee maker and companion iOS app, currently on Kicktarter, that will scratch your coffee nerd itch. Typically we save items like this for our "Crowdfunding" post, but the clock is ticking on this one and we think it's worth mentioning.

Here's where it gets cool. Connect your BRUVELO to WiFi and store a "recipe" on your iPhone. A recipe lets you get as nit-picky as you like, storing bean-specific instructions on steep times, ratios, temperature and more. Then, the next time you've got that bean in the pot, all you need to do is tap the recipe and the BRUVELO executes all of your instructions. From a single tap on you phone. Neat, eh?

There's about a week left to back this, as of this writing. If your blood runs as dark as the beans you roast, this might be the connected coffeemaker of your dreams.

The "Today" pane of Apple's Notification Center is meant to provide useful, at-a-glance information. That doesn't mean we can't stick a game in there.

Check out Overglide (US$0.99), a new game widget for iOS 8. You've got to pilot your paper airplane through a barrage of obstacles, which becomes more difficult the longer you play. It's not the most involved game you'll ever experience, but it's fun knowing it's always a swipe away. Plus, it reminds me of the classic Glider Pro, which I loved back in the day (and is currently out for iOS as well).

One of my favorite iOS games of 2014, Monument Valley (US$3.99), has been updated to version 2.0 with all new levels. The beautiful, intriguing puzzler features a young hero who you must guide through several levels of changing, mind-bending architecture before she reachers her ultimate goal: to defeat the meddlesome "crow people."

To call Monument Valley pretty is to call the sun warm. It's a stunner and the engaging (and occasionally frustrating) puzzles make it very difficult do put down indeed. Download version 2.0 today and kiss your productivity goodbye.

Good news, far-flung fast food fans. Burger King has announced that its iOS app (free) is now available in the UK and Ireland. What does it offer? Discounts for one, plus an overview of the chain's menu and a convenient way to find the restaurant nearest you. Lastly, it provides nutritional information for those interested.

Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>appsburger kingiPhonerestaurantssoftwareFri, 07 Nov 2014 09:00:00 ESThttp://www.tuaw.com/2014/11/03/apple-partners-with-southwest-for-in-flight-beats-music/http://www.tuaw.com/2014/11/03/apple-partners-with-southwest-for-in-flight-beats-music/http://www.tuaw.com/2014/11/03/apple-partners-with-southwest-for-in-flight-beats-music/#commentsTravelers boarding Southwest planes are about to find a new in-flight entertainment option as Apple/Beats Music has partnered with the airline to offer streaming Beats Music. The whole things starts today and is limited to planes that offer Wi-Fi.

The service will be free to Southwest customers, and the on-board experience will offer the same features that earthbound customers enjoy, like The Sentence and curated playlists. All you'll need is a device that can access Wi-Fi and use the browser-based web app.

To celebrate the partnership, Southwest has decked out a 737-700 with appropriate graphics.

I collect text editors the way other people collect stamps. Do people still collect stamps? Let's assume they do, and in great abundance. When a new editor comes out I've got to see what it does. This week I played with Ginger Page for iOS (free, universal). This handy little app offers several features to make writing easier and more fun, including a built-in alternate keyboard for iOS 8. Here's my look at Ginger Page and keyboard.

Ginger Page, the text editor, does several things. It corrects mistakes. It translates text. It can read your text aloud and share what you've written in several ways. There's a lot more, which I'll get to, but for now I want to emphasize how efficiently all of this functionality is packaged into the app.

When first launched, Ginger Page presents a keyboard, writing area, toolbar and a button for reaching the advanced tools. The six options across the main toolbar are rather useful. You get: 1. Rephrase a sentence 2. Speak 3. "Star," or mark as a favorite 4. Copy to the clipboard 5. Clear 6. Send as a text. I'll go over these in a moment, but first a complaint. While helpful, these tools are not customizable. As you'll see, there are additional functions that do not appear in the toolbar, like translate and define. It would be nice to be able to customize which six functions appear in the toolbar, but that's not an option. For example, if I intend to use Ginger Page for a lot of translation, it's a hassle to leave the writing area and open the hidden tool preferences repeatedly.

Now, let's look at the default tools. The rephrase option is interesting. Once you've typed a sentence or a series of sentences, you can use Ginger Page to suggest alternate wordings. In my experience, this was hit or miss. When I wrote intentionally convoluted sentences, Ginger Page did a good job of suggesting more efficient alternatives. However, when I wrote brief sentences, it offered questionable variations, some of which changed the meaning of the original. For example, I wrote:

"I'm going to the market with Martha to buy ingredients for dinner. We'll be back around 4:00. See you then."

Suggestions for the first sentence included "I'm traveling to the market with Martha to buy ingredients for dinner," which is fine. It also suggested "I'm conking to the market..." and "I'm blending to the market...", which don't make sense, unless it's using colloquialisms I'm unfamiliar with. If your writing tends to be verbose, Ginger Page can help. Otherwise, it just gets weird.

The other default tools work as you'd expect. Starred items are stored in a list and can be reused. This is handy if you want a database of boilerplate text messages, for example. The speak function does what it says on the tin, as does copy and clear, which deletes everything you've typed in the current session. Finally, the text option opens a text window with your words all ready to go.

Ginger Page also offers real-time, contextual spelling and grammar checking. Spell checking works great and has at least one benefit over Apple's solution, in that it lets you correct an error that occurred several words ago. For example, if I write, "I'm giong to the market with Martha," it'll recognize "giong" as wrong and keep the suggestion "going" available as I type the rest of the sentence. A single tap fixes it.

The grammatical suggestions work well for the most part. I made several errors and it caught the vast majority, offering acceptable fixes. A few errors did slip past, but I was satisfied with the performance overall.

Now for the additional tools. I was impressed with the translate function. To test it I busted out my best high school French and Ginger Page translated every lengthy, marginally useful phrase without a problem.

The app's dictionaries are quite useful, especially the customizable personal dictionary, which you can fill with your commonly used, non-standard words. You can also search for synonyms of a given word and theme the keyboard to match your aesthetic leanings... which brings me to the keyboard.

The Ginger keyboard features a tiny "G" key in the lower right. Tapping it brings up all of the tools I mentioned before in a non-obtrusive display. I like this a whole lot and plan to keep it installed for quite some time.

Despite a few complaints, I'm happy with Ginger Page and keyboard. They truly do add to the experience of writing on the iPhone.

I'm often amazed at what the little iPhone can do. It's the best computer I've ever owned, and now it's helping me get mentally sharper, thanks to Fit Brains from Rosetta Stone (universal, free with in-app purchases). This clever app presents challenging games that test and improve mental acuity across several categories. It's very good-looking, well executed and fun. You can track your progress across devices and monitor your progress over time. Here's my look at Fit Brains.

Looks

As I've said, this is a pretty app. Everything is bright and clear, with an emphasis on fun. It doesn't feel like you're doing "work," just playing simple, brightly-colored games. The app's reports are easy to read and well laid-out. That's great, but how does it work?

Train that brain!

Fit Brains addresses trains your brain across several categories, including: Language, Speed, Focus, Problem Solving, Memory, and Visual Tasks. As you progress in each area, or show a need for improvement, the app selects the games you should be playing. It's like having a coach on hand, and is a lot better than letting the user pick games randomly.

To begin, just hit "Start Training" and you're off. The app presents three games per session, one after the other. When one game is complete, you'll see a screen that summarizes your performance and compares it to previous attempts, if applicable. Once you've done all three games in a given session, your performance is compared to that of other users in your same age range and gender.

What's nice is you can use the Games screen to jump to any game you've already played for a quick session at the basic level. As you improve, intermediate and advanced levels are unlocked. I've had fun playing the Fit Brain games and feel great when I beat a previous score.

There are several payment options available, including subscriptions of various durations, like three, six and 12 months. This pro level gives you access to all of the training games and access to all seven of the company's brain-training apps, which is pretty cool.

I've enjoyed my time with Fit Brains plan to keep using it. You should try it out, too.

I'm a fan of Backflip studios. Plundernauts is one of my favorite games, and I like Spellfall a lot, too. Now I've had the chance to play with Epic Island (universal, free with in-app purchases), and I've found it has the same thoughtful charm as its siblings.

Epic Island is a full RPG with quests, baddies to battle, loot, equipment upgrades and all the goodies you'd expect to find. When the game starts you have the option to connect to Facebook so you can share your exploits with your friends (don't worry, Facebook login is not required). The first thing you'll do is create a profile with information, and then you're ready to get to it.

The fun begins when you recruit a hero. Initially there are five to choose from:

The dashing male

The daring huntress

The wise man

The nimble elf

The stout dwarf

Each has its strengths and weakness, so pick the one that fits your fighting style and give him or her a name. From there, the battles begin! Epic Island does a good job of leading you through the game's functions, which I like. Learning while playing is so much better than sitting through a dull tutorial.

Your first character starts in the "evil tree," where he battles a nasty beastie. This particular bad guy is pretty easy to kill and when you do, you'll collect fame, coins and progress. Fame is like XP, and allows the character to level up. Gold coins are the game's in-game currency and progress speeds up the rate with which a dungeon's level increases.

Now here's the neat thing (or the terrible thing, depending what you like in an RPG). Gathering and equipping/upgrading loot is emphasized more heavily than the actual combat. When a hero engages in battle, a timer begins, counting down how long the battle should take. During that time, you're free to move away from the action and work with another character in the blacksmith shop, the arena for one-on-one battles or in a dungeon of his or her own. Now, if you want to watch every battle you certainly can, but I often find it kind of boring to watch the same combat animations over and over, especially when you're grinding coins or gems. I think it's an interesting and appealing choice to let me start a battle, move away and get a notification when it's over.

In-app purchases are available, but I've found it's possible to play this game entirely for free, as long as you're the patient type. Gems let you speed up action and hire additional heroes, whom you'll need to defeat the nastier bad guys. You will acquire gems at a regular rate, but not a whole lot of them. If you lack the patience, there's an option to buy.

As for Epic Island's looks, it's just as cute as their other titles. The art is cartoonish without being silly. It's fun to tap around the island and open new areas.

I'm pretty happy with Epic Island and will continue to play. You can enjoy the app for free as long as you're the patient type. The emphasis on loot vs. combat will put some players off, but I liked it a whole lot. RPG fans will certainly want to check this one out.

Social and photography are two very crowded markets in the App Store. Getting noticed is the first trick; gathering a following is the next. The developers of Cirqle for iPhone (free) are hoping their combination of communal photo streams, or "cirqles," will succeed in both areas. It's a compelling idea and the execution is pretty well done, but I'm not convinced it's compelling enough to lure customers away from established services.

Cirqle lets you shoot photos and organize them into albums called "cirqles." When you shoot a photo, you have three share options: Curated, Open and Private. A Curated cirqle is open only to those you invite. Participants can view the images in your cirqle and contribute their own. Private cirqles are just for you. No one will ever find them via search or other means. That leaves Open.

This is where it gets interesting. You can use the app to browse a list of Open cirqles, or search for keywords. Once you've found one that you like, you're free to check it out. For example, I found one that features photos taken around New York City. It was fun to look at neighborhoods and landmarks I've seen before. From there, I could subscribe to the cirqle to receive notification of new contributions, or apply to be a contributor. Once the cirqle's owner approves my request, I'm free to add my own shots of NYC to the collaborative effort.

Sounds neat, right? Well it is. The UI is pretty and there are even featured cirqles full of high-quality images. The only problem I see is convincing family and friends to use yet another social service. It's true that it isn't necessary for your loved ones to participate, but I think it'll be a lot more compelling if they do. I imagine creating an invite-only Curated cirqle for a family vacation, holiday get-together or other noteworthy, memorable event. I think Cirqle is pretty and well done, yet I know "selling" it to siblings, etc. who are already using Path, Facebook, Twitter and so on will be a tough job.

Give Cirqle a try and let me know what you think. It's a well-executed resident of a very crowded market.

The Swaive intelligent in-ear thermometer (US$79.99 for the thermometer, companion app is free) makes the glass-and-mercury model I remember from childhood look like a museum relic. It works as a stand-alone device and syncs data with Apple's Health app, making it easy to track history. I had a chance to talk with Swaive's Gurpal Bhoot about the compelling new device, currently available for preorder.

Anyone who's had to care for someone who's down with a fever knows the importance of keeping a track of the patient's temperature over time. I'm famous for writing those numbers down on a piece of paper, and then promptly losing said paper. Not only does the Swaive keep this history for you, Bhoot says it can use that data in several ways.

"The data that the Swaive gathers gets transferred to the iPhone automatically via low-energy Bluetooth. Now, you can use that information in a variety of ways. For example, you can create a history of each individual's temperature, if you're monitoring more than one sick individual. You can also monitor when each temperature was taken and compare it to a person's typical temperature range, or baseline."

That's great for keeping a nurse or doctor up to day. But what if you're away and someone else is watching the kids? You can opt to get notifications to your phone as well.

The Swaive has the largest display on any thermometer available as well as a built-in flashlight. I shouldn't be as excited about the flashlight as I am, but if you've ever woken up a sick child by turning on the bedroom light, you understand my enthusiasm.

I'm excited about what Apple's iPhone and Health app mean for the wellness and fitness industries. Devices like the Swaive expand the iPhone's capabilities far beyond what I ever imagined for it in 2007.

After just a few minutes of playing, my 9-year-old proclaimed Animals vs. Mutants (universal, free with in-app purchases) "awesome." So there you go.

Animals vs. Mutants (or "AVM" as I'm calling it) is a cute combat game in which you and an ever-increasing army of adorable but vicious animals must defeat Dr. Wicked's horrible creations. As you win battles you free various animals who fight by your side. This is crucial, because you'll need the right combination of animals and abilities to keep fighting successfully. Here's my look at Animals vs. Mutants.

Looks

I have to say, for all the fighting, it's a cute little game. The cartoonish heroes, villains and scenery are right at home on top of a pleasant little score. Yes there are pitched battles, but at least they aren't flinging gore all over the place.

Outside of the action, the inventory, shop and level overviews are clear and legible. Plus, your health is represented by a strawberry. Awww.

Gameplay

Don't let the cuteness fool you. There is strategy to AVM. Before you go on a mission, you must select the animals that will accompany you. Each has a unique skill. For example, squirrels are great with ranged weapons (where "weapons" = acorns). But pandas are better at melee. A good combination will serve you well.

You've also got to manage your hero's HP and mana. Your "max mana" is used to summon animals, while the "mana recovery speed" lets you do so quickly. Virtual coins let you level up both of these stats, as well as others.

Moving and fighting is very straightforward. Simply tap the screen left or right to move, and get within range of enemies to attack automatically. It's easy, yes, but a bit dull. I'd like to take a more active role in the combat, choosing who to attack and when. Instead, I just get close and watch it go down. But for kids, like my young son, the easy combat is probably good thing.

AVM also offers mounts, which is cool. Each offers its own benefits, aside from just looking cool. You'll also unlock items to aid your and your furry companions.

What I really liked about this game is the various play modes. There's standard "adventure" mode, but also a survival mode that has you fighting wave after wave of bad guys for as long as you can, and a battle mode, where you can try to earn more points than your friends. Speaking of, Game Center is also supported.

Conclusion

Animals vs. Mutants is a fun, cute battle game. It's simple to play and so-so on strategy. You must assemble an effective army, and buffs like mounts and items aid in combat. I just wish that combat were a little less "auto pilot." Younger players will love it. Speaking of the kids, note that in-app purchases will let you buy in-game currency. But you can switch those off easily.

It's been a good week for Apple collectors. First two prototypeiPhones show up on auction sites, and now a working Apple I motherboard and a vintage flag from the company's European headquarters are up on auction.

British auction house Bonhams will put the board and the flag on the block as part of its "History of Science" auction, scheduled for October 22. The board was constructed by Woz himself and bears the number "01-0070". The flag is said to be in "fine condition." Both are expected fetch quite a sum, especially the board, which is estimated to bring as much as US$400,000.

As someone with a serious case of wanderlust, an iPhone and no budget for world travel, Wayfare (free) is a lot of fun. It hooks you up with a user across the globe, and the two of you spend a week sharing photos, comments and culture via fun, simple "missions." I've become so enamored with Wayfare that it earned a permanent spot on my iPhone's home screen after one day of testing.

Looks

Wayfare is clearly presented though skeuomorphic elements that may bother those who lack a sense of fun. There are four main screens: profile, settings, "My Guide" and your journey history. Some clever touches include a map of the each user's home country in the background and a "boarding pass" that looks like a boarding pass. The photos you share with your "guide" are arranged in an orderly list. Overall it's an attractive app, but its real appeal is in using it.

Use

You'll forgive my gushing but I've had so much fun with this app. I've seen snippets of like in Dublin and Mumbai while sharing my own corner of New England. When a notification pops up saying my guide has shared something, I stop to see what it is. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Here's how to get started with Wayfare.

After creating your own profile, you'll pick an available destination. Wayfare has participants in 113 countries as of this writing, speaking over a dozen languages. Once you've selected a country you'd like to explore, the app matches you with an appropriate user. From there, the seven-day exploration begins. When your week is up, that person goes into your friends list and you're free to explore another country with a new person.

You and your partner explore each other's corner of the world via "missions." There are many to choose from, each designed to highlight a part of your every day. Wayfare maintains two lists of missions: a main list and another list of recommendations. Some of the recommended missions include: 1. What I'm doing right now. 2. The view from my window. 3. Something I love to eat. 4. My shoes (don't laugh, you'll find huge variations here!) 5. Someplace I go to enjoy nature. 6. Something I see very day.

Other missions highlight your neighborhood, like "Something my city or town is known for." Once you've selected a mission, take a photo that satisfies it and add caption. Finally, click Done. Your partner is then prompted to meet the same mission, and you can opt to receive a push notification when he or she has done so.

And that's when it gets fun. Soon you're seeing snippets of real life from somewhere far away. You can comment on each other's photos and there's no limit to the number of missions you can complete in a day.

There are a few nice touches here as well. The app always lets you know what time it is in your partner's city or town, so you won't bother to nag them while they're asleep. There's also a translation feature which, unfortunately, I was unable to test. How it worked in the demo is, I tap and hold on a comment that's not in English, and it gets translated. It looks cool, but I was only paired with English-speakers.

A few complaints

I have a few minor complaints. First, scrolling through the timeline of completed missions is jaggy on my iPhone 5c. Perhaps more powerful iPhones are up to the challenge, but my 5c struggled a bit. Also, the title bar in the same view is transparent, so it's possible to have overlapping text, which is impossible to read. A simple scroll "fixes" it, but still...

Finally, I had a hard time finding how to start a new mission. There's a "+" icon at the bottom of the screen next to the label "Send a message." It suggests that the "+" is for text, but in fact it's for commenting and selecting a mission.

Conclusion

Those issues aside, I'm in love with Wayfare. It's tremendously fun to see what people of other cultures are experiencing in their ordinary, daily lives. Check it out and explore the world.

I've been working from home for a few years now, and even though I'm a telecommuter, I occasionally take a side gig. There are many apps that will let me track by billable hours, including the aptly-named Hours by Tapity (US$4.99). I found Hours to be simple to use, legible and functional. Plus, you can export data to your computer via email. Handy! Here's my look at Hours.

Looks

Hours is very well-organized. The date and total hours worked are displayed at the very top of the screen. Calendar and preference icons are in the top left and right corners, respectively. The color-coded timers themselves show a running total as well as the project or client they're associated with. There's no guesswork about what's what or how to use Hours, and I like that.

Use

Starting a new timer is a piece of cake. Sweet, billable cake. Just tap the big 'ol New Timer button to open the edit screen. From there, add the name of the project your timer is for, as well as optionally adding client and task. Next, choose one of sixteen colors for the timer. It's pretty great that there are so many colors to choose from, as it helps keep track of things.

Your timers appear in creation order on the app's main screen. You can reorder them at any time by tapping and holding, then dragging them into the order you'd like. To get a timer going, simply tap the clock icon next to its name. As time passes, you'll see that timer's color grow along the timeline at the top of the screen. This is so helpful, in that it provides at-a-glance information on what you've been working on. To stop a timer, just tap the clock icon again.

The app's reminders function is also super useful. Have you ever forgotten to start or stop a timer? Now Hours can nag you. Set your work hours and then have the app prompt you if: 1) You haven't started a timer by a custom hour, 2) You've left a timer running after a custom time , or 3) You've gone [x time] without tracking any time

There's another handy bit: have you ever needed to round hours up or down? You can tell Hours to snap timers to an increment of your choosing, and round up based on that same number. Finally, Hours lets you choose between a 12- or 24-hour clock. You can even use the decimal system, if that's your thing.

The only thing that's left is to get paid! Just export your work hours to your Mac and create a sweet, sweet invoice.

Conclusion

Hours isn't a client tracker, project manager or to-do app. It's not supposed to be. Hours is a useful, legible and easy-to-use time tracker. If that's the functionality you're after, consider Hours.

Twitterrific, the venerable Twitter client for iOS, has been updated to version 5.7.6. Changes include support for the iPassword extension in its built-in browser, plus improved action sheets and zooming.

Pictionary-style family game SketchParty TV is now up to version 2.0. This clever app uses AirPlay mirroring to get your Apple TV in on the game. This update is much more responsive that its predecessors thanks to a new drawing engine, and it'll now fit nicely on the new device sizes.

Kinomatic Video Editing Tool and Camera. This pro-camera and editor in one has been updated to greatly enhance your editing options. You can adjust the bias on auto exposure or go full manual. You'll also find new white balance presets and more.

Password manager Keeper has been updated to version 8.3 with new goodies for iOS 8 users. Specifically, Keeper now supports Touch ID authentication and optimized file uploads in mobile Safari.

iOS developers continue to update their apps to take advantage of iOS 8. Here's a list of a few more that you might want to check out.

Wunderlist (our full review here) has been updated with a new "Today" widget for the iOS 8 Notification Center, plus the new extension lets you quickly add a webpage, note, email message or more to the app right from the share sheet. Happy productivity!

CARROT Fit is back to kick your sorry backside into shape, meat bag (our full review here). The latest version features full iPad support, so now you can be heckled from the big screen. Plus, there's a new punishment feature, which amounts to ads and squirrel attacks (these can be disabled). To top it all off, CARROT Fit now interacts with Apple's HealthKit. There's no hiding now, meat bag.

Project manager Things is up to version 2.5, offering 64-bit compatibility for the iPhone 5 and later. It also supports iOS 8 extensions, and the new Add To Things extension will have you capturing tasks in no time. Finally, Things 2.5 supports background refresh, so it will occasionally launch itself in the background to stay up to date.

We'll have more roundups as more apps are updated. If you've got one we should highlight, let me know.

Now that iOS 8 release day is here, developers are releasing updated versions of their apps that take advantage of its new features. I've collected several here for you to explore, and I'll be adding more throughout the day. Is there one that I missed? Speak up in the comments. Now, let's get started.

Finish (our full review here) now features a Notification Center widget, which lets you see your next three tasks right from Notification Center, as well as new interactive notifications. Each notification center is now accompanied by Finish button and a Stall button. Do you have to put something off? Simply hit Stall.

Apple's own Find My iPhone has been updated to version 3.0 with "support for iOS 8 and Family Sharing."

Quotebook, the easy way to capture, store and share memorable quotes, has been updated to version 3.0.2 and is ready for the spacious iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Hootsuite, the social media manager has released an iOS 8-ready version that takes advantage of the share extension. Now you can schedule content to your social serves right from your iPhone with Hootsuite.

Lockscreen Wallpaper Designer (US$1.99), which we've reviewed in full, has been updated to version 1.1. It takes advantage of the app extension. Now you can create a wallpaper for that snazzy iPhone 6 (or earlier model) from the camera roll, an email message, a text message or any other supported app. Neat! Version 1.1 is a free update for existing users.

Hoursis another time-tracking app, and the latest update lets you start and stop timers from the new Notification Center widget. Move between timers faster than ever. And of course, it's optimized for the iPhone 6's and iPhone 6 Plus's larger screens. Update -- Developer Jeremy Olson at Tapity says that "we had to remove Hours from the store just now because we are getting reports from users who upgraded that their old timers are hidden ... fortunately there is no data loss. We are scrambling to submit a fix ASAP."

My beloved 1Password has been updated to version 5. It's now free with an in-app purchase (note that all Pro features are a free upgrade to all existing version 4 owners), and iOS 8-only. It also supports Touch ID and direct Safari integration. YAAAY!

UpWords Notepad is another inclusive task manager. It integrates your calendar, to-dos, contacts and so much more. It's very nice looking and manages to get a lot of information into a tidy interface. With today's update you can view your to-dos and calendar events together in the Today view. You can even reschedule tasks, right then and there.

iOS 8 is here and it's brought...third-party keyboards! Seriously, I believe this is going to be a big deal, and we'll have a look at several options as they start coming in. But first, I want to show you all Fleksy.

Right away you'll notice that Fleksy looks quite unlike the iOS keyboard, be it iOS 8 or otherwise. The keys are quite flat in design and lack a distinct border. But that's just the start. You can choose from five colored themes, plus premium themes. It seems odd to have that level of customization over a keyboard in iOS, but it actually looks pretty nice.

Customization - size

Here's another cool trick. You can shrink the Fleksy keyboard to a layout that's smaller than the default. Specifically, you can either hide the spacebar/shift keys/number button/Return key and leave yourself just with the letters. It's a neat little trick, and the shrunken keyboard takes up even less space on the iPhone 6's half-acre of screen space.

Gesture support

I'll admit that I've been envious of my Android-wielding friends' options for keyboards, especially all the gestures. With a swipe, they can create whole words, move things around and more. Finally, Fleksy brings some of that functionality to iOS.

First, you can delete by swiping left. That reminds me of Graffiti on my old Palm IIIe. How I loved that thing. But I digress. Fleksy gestures also let you add a space with a swipe or punctuation.

Other goodies

Emoji fans will be delighted to find over 800 of the little guys build into Fleksy​. It also supports more than 40 languages as well as QWERTY, DVORAK, AZERTY and COLEMAK layouts.

I'm excited to see where third-party keyboards go on iOS. If Fleksy is any indication, it's going to be a fun, active category of app for quite some time.